Question

i will be reading the following data into a 2×2 matrix:

1   blnk1   Stk1-01 3   Unknown blnk1       C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
2   blnk2   Stk1-01 3   Unknown blnk2       C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
3   blnk3   Stk1-01 3   Unknown blnk3       C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
4   blnk4   Stk1-01 3   Unknown blnk4       C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
1   CAL1    Stk1-02 3   Standard    CAL1    1   C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
2   CAL2    Stk1-02 3   Standard    CAL2    2   C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
3   CAL3    Stk1-02 3   Standard    CAL3    3   C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
4   CAL4    Stk1-02 3   Standard    CAL4    4   C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
5   QC1 Stk1-02 3   QC  QC1 1   C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
6   QC2 Stk1-02 3   QC  QC2 2   C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
7   QC3 Stk1-02 3   QC  QC3 3   C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
8   QC4 Stk1-02 3   QC  QC4 4   C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
        Stk1-02 3   Unknown 0       C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
        Stk1-02 3   Unknown 0       C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
        Stk1-02 3   Unknown 0       C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
A01     Stk1-02 3   Unknown 0       C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
B02     Stk1-02 3   Unknown 0       C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
C03     Stk1-02 3   Unknown 0       C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
D01     Stk1-02 3   Unknown 0       C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
        Stk1-02 3   Unknown 0       C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
        Stk1-02 3   Unknown 0       C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
        Stk1-02 3   Unknown 0       C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
        Stk1-02 3   Unknown 0       C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt
        Stk1-02 3   Unknown 0       C:\Xcalibur\data\8027_THC\Rawfiles  C:\Aria Data\AS Methods\USE THESE METHODS\THC_test.tmt

i will need to be able to sort the entire matrix by the first column, which may contain numbers and letters.

what is the best data type to use? collections? arrays? i need something that will support sorting on multiple types. i suppose that the type can just be string, in which case it may or may not sort numbers correctly?

Answer 1

You’re not giving a lot of information on the actions you will be doing on this data.

Basically, with only the general information you gave, I would go for a DataSet.